Let's not forget that these men, and other drug couriers, play the most minor of roles in the illicit drug trade - but they are also the ones punished most severely. The people who employ them, the people who manufacture the drugs, and most vitally, the people who operate international businesses to supply drugs across the globe - are generally hand in glove with powerful political and business figures, and are protected by their status, wealth and power. Regardless of what happens to their hired drug couriers, these people are rarely, if ever, prosecuted.
Recently, I signed a petition that pleaded for clemency for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. A friend informed me that I was a bleeding heart, that these men ‘knew the rules’ and that all the petitions in the world wouldn’t change the Indonesian government’s stance. And his views are typical of many. They centre around the inarguable fact that these men broke a law and therefore they must suffer the consequences, which in the case of Chan and Sukumaran is death by firing squad. I want to reiterate here: no one is arguing that they broke the law. But a law that authorises the killing of people after years on death row, people who have been rehabilitated, who have become productive members of society, and who have worked hard to improve the lives of others – that is a bad law, and it SHOULD be challenged. You gain nothing from remaining silent.
I feel so strongly about this because while I don’t know what other prisoners are like in there, I think that these two Australians at least have rehabilitated themselves and are continuing to do so, and they are productive members of society. They are doing good things for others, despite being on death row the whole time. From what I’ve seen of jail in Australia, jail facilities as rehabilitation centres don’t f***ing work. I don’t think too many people get rehabilitated in prison; I think it makes them harder. So whatever the hell’s happening over in Indonesia, here at least are two prisoners that are proof of successful rehabilitation. Why on earth would you kill them now? Not only is it cruel to take their lives after leaving them in jail for ten years with the threat of execution hanging over their heads, but killing them now is a positive disincentive to rehabilitation. If you’re going to die anyway, why should you even bother with making things better for yourself and others? What is your humanity worth when all roads lead to the executioner just the same? A person can only be killed once.
Anyway, I said as much to a mate and he said 'I agree with you, kill them straight away, don't leave them on death row for years.' :? That is not what I meant - I don't support capital punishment under any circumstances. I just find it even more horrific to prolong people's existence on death row. Capital punishment, if the sentence is carried out immediately, is barbaric enough. I have never found any argument convincing me that humans have the right to take another person's life against their will, nor to legalise such murder and call it justice. Capital punishment, if the sentence is delayed, is a human rights crime. It is the cruelest thing. And I do take into account what people are saying regarding the lives saved because that 8kg of heroin never made it to Aussie shores. I call bulls**t. As someone who has been addicted to drugs in the past (admittedly not heroin, but I was dependent on prescription opiates for over a year), I can say that no one held a gun to my head to take them. A closer comparison would be alcohol, I suppose, and the peer pressure involved there. I don't drink any more and when I refuse alcohol at a gathering, people look at me like I've contracted ebola and joined ISIS, and sometimes there are those who will argue with me or encourage me to drink anyway. It's still my decision whether I do or not. I don't blame drug couriers or drug dealers for drug-related deaths. To me it makes more sense to blame the governments that refuse to decriminalise drugs. If drugs were legal, I don't doubt that people would still take them, but if drug use was considered as a social issue rather than as a criminal one, there would be a greater focus on understanding the causes of drug use (poverty, for one), and on providing education and information both to make drug use a safer practice and to encourage alternatives. The majority of people across the world either use or have used drugs – executing people or locking them up for their lifetimes won’t change that fact.